One of my food pet peeves for quite some time now has been
how much sugar is added to most cereals—not only the “junk” cereals found in
conventional grocery stores, but also the so-called-healthy ones.In fact, it is almost impossible to find any
cereal with fewer than 6-8 grams of sugar per ¾ cup serving (except for
Cheerios, shredded wheat and puffed rice). Granola is one of the worst offenders.Often the serving size is misleadingly small.One “healthy organic gluten free” granola I
bought recently for Larry has 6 grams of sugar per serving—and the serving size
is 1/3 cup!Do you know how little that
is?I just measured it out and a baby
would probably ask for more! And I have mentioned this before, sugar can be
disguised as other names—brown rice syrup, sucanat, evaporated cane juice,
fruit juice etc.

(For a complete list of sugar disguises, go here ).Sugar is sugar is sugar, as both Rebecca and I have discussed.And then there are raisins and other dried
fruits, which are added to many granolas, especially bulk (raisins are heavy
and cheap, so many granolas are beefed up with raisins). 1 small box (about ¼
cup) of raisins has 25 grams of sugar in it!!Larry likes to have cold cereal in the morning and he doesn’t eat
gluten.We buy all sorts of organic bulk
granolas (with lots of dried fruit in them) and assorted gluten-free cereals. He
adds puffed rice to cut some of the sugar, but he eats a lot of cereal every
morning and so he is getting at least 30 grams of sugar before he even goes out
the door at 6:15.And that is a lot for
a so-called healthy breakfast.

So…this week I decided to make homemade muesli—without sugar
or raisins—and homemade granola with tahini as the fat and a VERY small amount
of maple syrup.(Granola needs fat and
some sugar in order to be crunchy.)

Muesli, a popular European breakfast cereal, is made from
raw oats, other grains (or flakes), nuts, and fruit.You can add yogurt, milk, or non-dairy milks
to it in the morning, or soak it overnight to soften it.Many muesli products are available on the
cereal shelves, but again, they contain a huge amount of sugar—both added
(usually as fruit juice) or in the form of raisins, cranberries, dates, dried
apricots, or other dried fruits.Muesli
is easy to make, and by making it yourself, you can control how much sugar is
in it.I made mine without any sugar or
dried fruit, and in the morning, Larry and I can add a handful of low glycemic
berries to give a little sweetness to our cereal (I add cinnamon, which
contains no sugar and is naturally sweet).Here are some ideas for making homemade muesli:

Mix together and store in an airtight container.Either soak overnight in milk or water or add
milk or yogurt in the morning and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Add fresh fruit, if
desired.

You can basically add anything else you want…such as toasted
buckwheat, other spices, etc.And of
course, dried fruit…but bear in mind, your sugar content starts to skyrocket as
you add more dried fruit.

***

Granola has basically the same ingredients as muesli, but
fat is added and quite a bit of brown sugar, syrup or honey to make it crispy
and clumpy. It’s also more of a fuss to make, because you have to cook it. I love tahini, which is high in fat but also
good for you (lots of protein, minerals, and B vitamins).I figured that since I had to add fat, I
might as well add fat that is super nutritious, so I decided to try to make
granola with it instead of oil.I also
only added 1 T of maple syrup instead of the traditional ¼- ½ cup. (Adding 1 T
of syrup to my granola added about 1 gram of sugar per healthy serving of
granola.)Adding less sugar will make
your granola less crispy, so you can add one egg white (beaten until frothy) to
crisp it even further.

Mix together the wet ingredients and add to the muesli. Stir
REALLY WELL so that the wet ingredients will coat all of the dry.Don’t worry about clumps. Spread in
parchment-lined baking rimmed baking pans (2 of them) and bake in the oven for
20 minutes at 300°F. Stir and switch pan placement in oven. Bake for another
15-20 minutes, or until granola has browned and is aromatic. Cool completely
and store in air-tight containers.

Note: This granola has a delicious, nutty flavor and is
great to snack on, too. If you are not a tahini lover, however, you can replace
the tahini with almond butter or ½ cup of coconut oil, either virgin or
unflavored. Also, I added 1 T of syrup because I wanted only 1 gram of sugar
per serving.If you want to add more,
try 2 or 3 T, remembering that each tablespoon you add contributes 12 grams of
sugar to the recipe (or about 1 gram of sugar per serving).